Tomato line FIRXM12-4131

ABSTRACT

The invention provides seed and plants of tomato line FIRXM12-4131. The invention thus relates to the plants, seeds and tissue cultures of line FIRXM12-4131, and to methods for producing a tomato plant produced by crossing such plants with themselves or with another tomato plant, such as a plant of another genotype. The invention further relates to seeds and plants produced by such crossing. The invention further relates to parts of such plants, including the fruit and gametes of such plants.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional of U.S. Ser. No. 14/751,083, filed Jun.25, 2015, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,717,196, the entire disclosure of all ofwhich is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the field of plant breeding and, morespecifically, to the development of tomato hybrid DR5014TH and theinbred tomato lines FIRXM12-4126 and FIRXM12-4131.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The goal of vegetable breeding is to combine various desirable traits ina single variety/hybrid. Such desirable traits may include any traitdeemed beneficial by a grower and/or consumer, including greater yield,resistance to insects or disease, tolerance to environmental stress, andnutritional value.

Breeding techniques take advantage of a plant's method of pollination.There are two general methods of pollination: a plant self-pollinates ifpollen from one flower is transferred to the same or another flower ofthe same plant or plant variety. A plant cross-pollinates if pollencomes to it from a flower of a different plant variety.

Plants that have been self-pollinated and selected for type over manygenerations become homozygous at almost all gene loci and produce auniform population of true breeding progeny, a homozygous plant. A crossbetween two such homozygous plants of different genotypes produces auniform population of hybrid plants that are heterozygous for many geneloci. Conversely, a cross of two plants each heterozygous at a number ofloci produces a population of hybrid plants that differ genetically andare not uniform. The resulting non-uniformity makes performanceunpredictable.

The development of uniform varieties requires the development ofhomozygous inbred plants, the crossing of these inbred plants, and theevaluation of the crosses. Pedigree breeding and recurrent selection areexamples of breeding methods that have been used to develop inbredplants from breeding populations. Those breeding methods combine thegenetic backgrounds from two or more plants or various other broad-basedsources into breeding pools from which new lines and hybrids derivedtherefrom are developed by selfing and selection of desired phenotypes.The new lines and hybrids are evaluated to determine which of those havecommercial potential.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one aspect, the present invention provides a tomato plant of thehybrid designated DR5014TH, the tomato line FIRXM12-4126 or tomato lineFIRXM12-4131. Also provided are tomato plants having all thephysiological and morphological characteristics of such a plant. Partsof these tomato plants are also provided, for example, including pollen,an ovule, scion, a rootstock, a fruit, and a cell of the plant.

In another aspect of the invention, a plant of tomato hybrid DR5014THand/or tomato lines FIRXM12-4126 and FIRXM12-4131 comprising an addedheritable trait is provided. The heritable trait may comprise a geneticlocus that is, for example, a dominant or recessive allele. In oneembodiment of the invention, a plant of tomato hybrid DR5014TH and/ortomato lines FIRXM12-4126 and FIRXM12-4131 is defined as comprising asingle locus conversion. In specific embodiments of the invention, anadded genetic locus confers one or more traits such as, for example,herbicide tolerance, insect resistance, disease resistance, and modifiedcarbohydrate metabolism. In further embodiments, the trait may beconferred by a naturally occurring gene introduced into the genome of aline by backcrossing, a natural or induced mutation, or a transgeneintroduced through genetic transformation techniques into the plant or aprogenitor of any previous generation thereof. When introduced throughtransformation, a genetic locus may comprise one or more genesintegrated at a single chromosomal location.

The invention also concerns the seed of tomato hybrid DR5014TH and/ortomato lines FIRXM12-4126 and FIRXM12-4131. The tomato seed of theinvention may be provided as an essentially homogeneous population oftomato seed of tomato hybrid DR5014TH and/or tomato lines FIRXM12-4126and FIRXM12-4131. Essentially homogeneous populations of seed aregenerally free from substantial numbers of other seed. Therefore, insome embodiments, seed of hybrid DR5014TH and/or tomato linesFIRXM12-4126 and FIRXM12-4131 may be defined as forming at least about97% of the total seed, including at least about 98%, 99% or more of theseed. The seed population may be separately grown to provide anessentially homogeneous population of tomato plants designated DR5014THand/or tomato lines FIRXM12-4126 and FIRXM12-4131.

In yet another aspect of the invention, a tissue culture of regenerablecells of a tomato plant of hybrid DR5014TH and/or tomato linesFIRXM12-4126 and FIRXM12-4131 is provided. The tissue culture willpreferably be capable of regenerating tomato plants capable ofexpressing all of the physiological and morphological characteristics ofthe starting plant, and of regenerating plants having substantially thesame genotype as the starting plant. Examples of some of thephysiological and morphological characteristics of the hybrid DR5014THand/or tomato lines FIRXM12-4126 and FIRXM12-4131 include those traitsset forth in the tables herein. The regenerable cells in such tissuecultures may be derived, for example, from embryos, meristems,cotyledons, pollen, leaves, anthers, roots, root tips, pistils, flowers,seed and stalks. Still further, the present invention provides tomatoplants regenerated from a tissue culture of the invention, the plantshaving all the physiological and morphological characteristics of hybridDR5014TH and/or tomato lines FIRXM12-4126 and FIRXM12-4131.

In still yet another aspect of the invention, processes are provided forproducing tomato seeds, plants and fruit, which processes generallycomprise crossing a first parent tomato plant with a second parenttomato plant, wherein at least one of the first or second parent tomatoplants is a plant of tomato line FIRXM12-4126 or tomato lineFIRXM12-4131. These processes may be further exemplified as processesfor preparing hybrid tomato seed or plants, wherein a first tomato plantis crossed with a second tomato plant of a different, distinct genotypeto provide a hybrid that has, as one of its parents, a plant of tomatoline FIRXM12-4126 or tomato line FIRXM12-4131. In these processes,crossing will result in the production of seed. The seed productionoccurs regardless of whether the seed is collected or not.

In one embodiment of the invention, the first step in “crossing”comprises planting seeds of a first and second parent tomato plant,often in proximity so that pollination will occur for example, mediatedby insect vectors. Alternatively, pollen can be transferred manually.Where the plant is self-pollinated, pollination may occur without theneed for direct human intervention other than plant cultivation.

A second step may comprise cultivating or growing the seeds of first andsecond parent tomato plants into plants that bear flowers. A third stepmay comprise preventing self-pollination of the plants, such as byemasculating the flowers (i.e., killing or removing the pollen).

A fourth step for a hybrid cross may comprise cross-pollination betweenthe first and second parent tomato plants. Yet another step comprisesharvesting the seeds from at least one of the parent tomato plants. Theharvested seed can be grown to produce a tomato plant or hybrid tomatoplant.

The present invention also provides the tomato seeds and plants producedby a process that comprises crossing a first parent tomato plant with asecond parent tomato plant, wherein at least one of the first or secondparent tomato plants is a plant of tomato hybrid DR5014TH and/or tomatolines FIRXM12-4126 and FIRXM12-4131. In one embodiment of the invention,tomato seed and plants produced by the process are first generation (F₁)hybrid tomato seed and plants produced by crossing a plant in accordancewith the invention with another, distinct plant. The present inventionfurther contemplates plant parts of such an F₁ hybrid tomato plant, andmethods of use thereof. Therefore, certain exemplary embodiments of theinvention provide an F₁ hybrid tomato plant and seed thereof.

In still yet another aspect, the present invention provides a method ofproducing a plant derived from hybrid DR5014TH and/or tomato linesFIRXM12-4126 and FIRXM12-4131, the method comprising the steps of: (a)preparing a progeny plant derived from hybrid DR5014TH and/or tomatolines FIRXM12-4126 and FIRXM12-4131, wherein said preparing comprisescrossing a plant of the hybrid DR5014TH and/or tomato lines FIRXM12-4126and FIRXM12-4131 with a second plant; and (b) crossing the progeny plantwith itself or a second plant to produce a seed of a progeny plant of asubsequent generation. In further embodiments, the method mayadditionally comprise: (c) growing a progeny plant of a subsequentgeneration from said seed of a progeny plant of a subsequent generationand crossing the progeny plant of a subsequent generation with itself ora second plant; and repeating the steps for an additional 3-10generations to produce a plant derived from hybrid DR5014TH and/ortomato lines FIRXM12-4126 and FIRXM12-4131. The plant derived fromhybrid DR5014TH and/or tomato lines FIRXM12-4126 and FIRXM12-4131 may bean inbred line, and the aforementioned repeated crossing steps may bedefined as comprising sufficient inbreeding to produce the inbred line.In the method, it may be desirable to select particular plants resultingfrom step (c) for continued crossing according to steps (b) and (c). Byselecting plants having one or more desirable traits, a plant derivedfrom hybrid DR5014TH and/or tomato lines FIRXM12-4126 and FIRXM12-4131is obtained which possesses some of the desirable traits of theline/hybrid as well as potentially other selected traits.

In certain embodiments, the present invention provides a method ofproducing food or feed comprising: (a) obtaining a plant of tomatohybrid DR5014TH and/or tomato lines FIRXM12-4126 and FIRXM12-4131,wherein the plant has been cultivated to maturity, and (b) collecting atleast one tomato from the plant.

In still yet another aspect of the invention, the genetic complement oftomato hybrid DR5014TH and/or tomato lines FIRXM12-4126 and FIRXM12-4131is provided. The phrase “genetic complement” is used to refer to theaggregate of nucleotide sequences, the expression of which sequencesdefines the phenotype of, in the present case, a tomato plant, or a cellor tissue of that plant. A genetic complement thus represents thegenetic makeup of a cell, tissue or plant, and a hybrid geneticcomplement represents the genetic make up of a hybrid cell, tissue orplant. The invention thus provides tomato plant cells that have agenetic complement in accordance with the tomato plant cells disclosedherein, and seeds and plants containing such cells.

Plant genetic complements may be assessed by genetic marker profiles,and by the expression of phenotypic traits that are characteristic ofthe expression of the genetic complement, e.g., isozyme typing profiles.It is understood that hybrid DR5014TH and/or tomato lines FIRXM12-4126and FIRXM12-4131 could be identified by any of the many well knowntechniques such as, for example, Simple Sequence Length Polymorphisms(SSLPs) (Williams et al., Nucleic Acids Res., 1 8:6531-6535, 1990),Randomly Amplified Polymorphic DNAs (RAPDs), DNA AmplificationFingerprinting (DAF), Sequence Characterized Amplified Regions (SCARs),Arbitrary Primed Polymerase Chain Reaction (AP-PCR), Amplified FragmentLength Polymorphisms (AFLPs) (EP 534 858, specifically incorporatedherein by reference in its entirety), and Single NucleotidePolymorphisms (SNPs) (Wang et al., Science, 280:1077-1082, 1998).

In still yet another aspect, the present invention provides hybridgenetic complements, as represented by tomato plant cells, tissues,plants, and seeds, formed by the combination of a haploid geneticcomplement of a tomato plant of the invention with a haploid geneticcomplement of a second tomato plant, preferably, another, distincttomato plant. In another aspect, the present invention provides a tomatoplant regenerated from a tissue culture that comprises a hybrid geneticcomplement of this invention.

Any embodiment discussed herein with respect to one aspect of theinvention applies to other aspects of the invention as well, unlessspecifically noted.

The term “about” is used to indicate that a value includes the standarddeviation of the mean for the device or method being employed todetermine the value. The use of the term “or” in the claims is used tomean “and/or” unless explicitly indicated to refer to alternatives onlyor the alternatives are mutually exclusive. When used in conjunctionwith the word “comprising” or other open language in the claims, thewords “a” and “an” denote “one or more,” unless specifically notedotherwise. The terms “comprise,” “have” and “include” are open-endedlinking verbs. Any forms or tenses of one or more of these verbs, suchas “comprises,” “comprising,” “has,” “having,” “includes” and“including,” are also open-ended. For example, any method that“comprises,” “has” or “includes” one or more steps is not limited topossessing only those one or more steps and also covers other unlistedsteps. Similarly, any plant that “comprises,” “has” or “includes” one ormore traits is not limited to possessing only those one or more traitsand covers other unlisted traits.

Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention willbecome apparent from the following detailed description. It should beunderstood, however, that the detailed description and any specificexamples provided, while indicating specific embodiments of theinvention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changesand modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention willbecome apparent to those skilled in the art from this detaileddescription.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The invention provides methods and compositions relating to plants,seeds and derivatives of tomato hybrid DR5014TH, tomato lineFIRXM12-4126 and tomato line FIRXM12-4131.

Tomato hybrid DR5014TH, also known as 12-XM-FIR-4038, is intended as abeef tomato variety for glasshouse production environment in a long cropcycle showing fruits with good firmness and slight ribbed fruit shapeand a large average fruit weight (280 gram). Resistance pattern is HR:ToMV:0-2/Ff:A-E/Fol:0,1 IR: On.

A. Origin and Breeding History of Tomato Hybrid DR5014TH

The parents of hybrid DR5014TH are FIRXM12-4126 and FIRXM12-4131. Theparent lines are uniform and stable, as is a hybrid produced therefrom.A small percentage of variants can occur within commercially acceptablelimits for almost any characteristic during the course of repeatedmultiplication. However no variants are expected.

B. Physiological and Morphological Characteristics of Tomato HybridDR5014TH, Tomato Line FIRXM12-4126 and Tomato Line FIRXM12-4131

In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, there isprovided a plant having the physiological and morphologicalcharacteristics of tomato hybrid DR5014TH and the parent lines thereof.A description of the physiological and morphological characteristics ofsuch plants is presented in Tables 1-3.

TABLE 1 Physiological and Morphological Characteristics of HybridDR5014TH CHARACTERISTIC DR5014TH DR7847TH 1 Seedling anthocyanincoloration of present present hypcotyl (For Seed- Propagated VarietiesOnly) For US PVP: observation to be made on 2-15 cm seedling) habit of3-4 week old normal normal seedling 2. Plant height 172.6 cm 150.4 cmgrowth type indeterminate indeterminate form normal normal 3. Stemanthocyanin coloration absent or very absent or very weak weak branchingintermediate intermediate branching at cotyledon or absent present firstleafy node number of nodes between  7 to 10  7 to 10 first inflorescencenumber of nodes between 1 to 4 1 to 4 early (1st to 2nd, 2nd to 3rd)inflorescences number of nodes between 1 to 4 1 to 4 later developinginflorescences pubescence on younger stems moderately moderately hairyhairy 4. Leaf type tomato tomato type of blade bipinnate bipinnatemargin of major leaflets shallowly shallowly (mature leaf beneath the3rd toothed or toothed or inflorescence) scalloped scalloped marginalrolling or wiltiness slight slight (mature leaf beneath the 3rdinflorescence) onset of leaflet rolling mid season mid season (matureleaf beneath the 4d inflorescence) surface of major leaflets rugose(bumpy rugose (bumpy (mature leaf beneath the 3rd or veiny) or veiny)inflorescence) pubescence (mature leaf normal normal beneath the 3rdinflorescence) length long size of leaflets large intensity of greencolor medium medium glossiness medium attitude of petiole of leaflet insemi-erect semi-erect relation to main axis 5 Inflorescence type mainlymainly uniparous uniparous type (make observations on simple simple the3rd inflorenscence) average number of flowers in 4.4 5.6 inflorenscence(from observations made on the 3rd inflorescence) leafy or “running”absent absent inflorescence 6 Flower color yellow yellow calyx normal(lobes normal (lobes awl shaped) awl shaped) corolla color yellow yellowstyle pubescence sparse sparse anthers all fused into all fused intotube tube fasciation (1^(st) flower of 2^(nd) or absent absent 3^(rd)inflorescence) abscission layer present present (pedicellate)(pedicellate Pedicel: length (only varieties medium with peduncleabscission layer present) 7. Fruit surface slightly rough slightly roughbase color (mature-green apple or apple or stage) medium green mediumgreen pattern (mature-green stage) uniform green uniform green greenshoulder (before absent absent maturity) green stripes (beforeabsent/present absent maturity) ratio length/diameter moderatelymoderately compressed compressed shape in longitudinal section oblateoblate shape of transverse/cross angular angular section (3^(rd) fruitof 2^(nd) or 3^(rd) cluster) shape of stem end (3rd fruit indentedindented of 2nd or 3rd cluster) shape of blossom end indented to flatindented to flat shape of pistil scar (3^(rd) fruit stellate stellate of2^(nd) or 3^(rd) cluster) depression at peduncle end medium medium pointof detachment of fruit at at pedicel joint at pedicel joint harvest(3^(rd) fruit of 2^(nd) or 3^(rd) cluster) length of dedicel (from joint12.8 8.9 to calyx attachment) length of mature fruit (stem 67.2 mm 57.1mm axis) diameter of fruit at widest 96.2 mm 78.8 mm point weight ofmature fruit 355.7 gm 198.9 gm core present present number of locules(*refer to more than six four, five or six TG for pictures of locules)color, full ripe red red color (at maturity) pink pink flesh color,full-ripe red/crimson red/crimson color of flesh (at maturity) red redglossiness of skin medium medium flesh color with lighter and withlighter darker areas in and darker walls areas in wall locular gel colorof table-ripe red red fruit firmness soft soft shelf life medium mediumripening (blossom-to-stem blossom-to-stem blossom-to- axis) end stem endripening (peripheral to outside in outside in central radial axis)epidermis color yellow yellow epidermis normal normal epidermis texturetender tender thickness of pericarp (in 0.0 mm 0.0 mm millimeters)thickness of pericarp thin thin sensitivity to slivering insensitiveinsensitive 8 Phenology seeding to 50% flow (1 open 69.5 68.5 on 50% ofplants) (days) Fruiting Season long long 9 Adaptation culture greenhousegreenhouse 10. Chemistry and Composition of Full-Ripe Fruits pH 4.5 4.4titratable acidity, as % citric 5.5 5.9 total solids (dry matter, seeds5.2 5.0 and skin removed) (percentage total content) soluble Solids as°Brix 4.3 4.0 11. Resistances Resistance to Meloidogyne susceptibleincognita (Mi) Resistance to Verticillium sp. absent (Va and Vd) race 0Resistance to Fusarium present oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici race 0 (ex1)(Fol) Resistance to Fusarium present oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici race 1(ex2) (Fol) Resistance to Fusarium absent oxysporum f. sp. radicislycopersici (For) (indeterminate varieties only) Resistance to Fulviafulva present (Ff) (ex Cladosporium fulvum) group A) (indeterminatevarieties only) Resistance to Fulvia fulva present (Ff) (ex Cladosporiumfulvum) group B) (indeterminate varieties only) Resistance to Fulviafulva present 0 (Ff) (ex Cladosporium fulvum) group C) (indeterminatevarieties only) Resistance to Fulvia fulva present (Ff) (ex Cladosporiumfulvum) group D) (indeterminate varieties only) Resistance to Fulviafulva present (Ff) (ex Cladosporium fulvum) group E) (indeterminatevarieties only) Resistance to Tomato mosaic present virus (ToMV) strain0 Resistance to Tomato spotted absent wilt virus (TSWV) Resistance toFulvia fulva present (Ff) (ex Cladosporium fulvum) race 0 Resistance toTomato mosaic present virus (ToMV) strain 1 Resistance to Tomato mosaicpresent virus (ToMV) strain 2 Resistance to Odium present neolycopersici(On) (ex Oidiumlycopersicum) (Ol)) *These are typical values. Values mayvary due to environment. Other values that are substantially equivalentare also within the scope of the invention.

TABLE 2 Physiological and Morphological Characteristics of LineFIRXM12-4126 CHARACTERISTIC FIRXM12-4126 DR7847TH 1 Seedling anthocyanincoloration of present present hypcotyl (For Seed- Propagated VarietiesOnly) For US PVP: observation to be made on 2-15 cm seedling) habit of3-4 week old normal normal seedling 2 Plant height 152.2 cm 150.4 cmgrowth type indeterminate indeterminate form normal normal size ofcanopy (compared to medium others of similar type) habit erect 3. Stemanthocyanin coloration absent or very absent or very weak weak length ofinternode (Only long medium indeterminate growth type varieties) height(Only indeterminate long growth type varieties) branching profuseintermediate branching at cotyledon or absent present first leafy nodenumber of nodes between 4 to 7  7 to 10 first inflorescence number ofnodes between 1 to 4 1 to 4 early (1st to 2nd, 2nd to 3rd)inflorescences number of nodes between 1 to 4 1 to 4 later developinginflorescences pubescence on younger moderately moderately stems hairyhairy 4. Leaf type tomato tomato type of blade bipinnate bipinnatemargin of major leaflets deeply toothed shallowly (mature leaf beneaththe 3rd or cut, sps. toothed or inflorescence) toward base scallopedmarginal rolling or wiltiness slight slight (mature leaf beneath the 3rdinflorescence) onset of leaflet rolling mid season mid season (matureleaf beneath the 4d inflorescence) surface of major leaflets rugose(bumpy rugose (mature leaf beneath the 3rd or veiny) (bumpyinflorescence) or veiny) pubescence (mature leaf hirsute normal beneaththe 3rd inflorescence) attitude (*refer to photos in drooping semi- TGif needed) drooping length long width medium size of leaflets largeintensity of green color medium medium glossiness weak blistering(*refer to photos in medium TG showing the difference between blisteringand creasing) attitude of petiole semi-erect semi-erect of leaflet inrelation to main axis 5 Inflorescence type mainly mainly uniparousuniparous type (make observations on simple simple the 3rdinflorenscence) average number of flowers 4 5.6 in inflorenscence (fromobservations made on the 3rd inflorescence) leafy or “running”occasional absent inflorescence 6 Flower color yellow yellow calyxnormal (lobes normal (lobes awl shaped) awl shaped) calyx-lobesdistinctly longer approx. than corolla equaling corolla corolla coloryellow yellow style pubescence dense sparse anthers all fused into allfused into tube tube fasciation (1^(st) flower of 2^(nd) absent absentor 3^(rd) inflorescence) abscission layer present present (pedicellate)(pedicellate Pedicel: length (only medium varieties with peduncleabscission layer present) 7. Fruit surface smooth slightly rough basecolor (mature-green apple or apple or stage) medium green medium greenpattern (mature-green stage) uniform green uniform green green shoulder(before absent absent maturity) intensity of green color very lightexcluding shoulder (before maturity) green stripes (beforeabsent/present absent maturity) size small small ratio length/diametermoderately moderately compressed compressed shape in longitudinalsection oblate oblate shape of transverse/cross angular angular section(3^(rd) fruit of 2^(nd) or 3^(rd) cluster) shape of stem end (3rd fruitindented indented of 2nd or 3rd cluster) shape of blossom end flatindented to flat shape of pistil scar (3^(rd) fruit stellate stellate of2^(nd) or 3^(rd) cluster) ribbing at peduncle end medium mediumdepression at peduncle end medium medium size of stem/peduncle scarlarge medium size of blossom scar medium medium point of detachment offruit at pedicel joint at pedicel at harvest (3^(rd) fruit of 2^(nd) orjoint 3^(rd) cluster) length of dedicel (from joint 11.1 8.9 to calyxattachment) length of mature fruit (stem 68.4 mm 57.1 mm axis) diameterof fruit at widest 93.9 mm 78.8 mm point weight of mature fruit 314.3 gm198.9 gm core coreless (absent coreless or smaller than (absent or 6 × 6mm) smaller than 6 × 6 mm) diameter of core in cross medium mediumsection in relation to total diameter number of locules (*refer to four,five or four, five or TG for pictures of locules) six six color, fullripe red red color (at maturity) red pink flesh color, full-ripered/crimson red/crimson color of flesh (at maturity) red red glossinessof skin medium medium flesh color uniform with lighter and darker areasin wall locular gel color of table-ripe red red fruit shelf life mediummedium time of flowering early time of maturity medium ripening(blossom-to-stem blossom-to-stem blossom-to- axis) end stem end ripening(peripheral to outside in outside in central radial axis) epidermiscolor yellow yellow epidermis normal normal epidermis texture tendertender thickness of pericarp (in 0.0 mm 0.0 mm millimeters) sensitivityto slivering insensitive insensitive 8 Phenology seeding to 50% flow (1open 51 68.5 on 50% of plants) (days) Fruiting Season long long 9Adaptation culture greenhouse greenhouse 10. Chemistry and Compositionof Full-Ripe Fruits pH 4.6 4.4 titratable acidity, as % citric 4.8 5.9total solids (dry matter, 5.5 5.0 seeds and skin removed) (percentagetotal content) soluble Solids as °Brix 4.4 4.0 *These are typicalvalues. Values may vary due to environment. Other values that aresubstantially equivalent are also within the scope of the invention.

TABLE 3 Physiological and Morphological Characteristics of LineFIRXM12-4131 CHARACTERISTIC FIRXM12-4131 DR7847TH 1 Seedling anthocyanincoloration of present present hypcotyl (For Seed- Propagated VarietiesOnly) For US PVP: observation to be made on 2-15 cm seedling) habit of3-4 week old normal normal seedling 2. Plant height 146.6 cm 150.4 cmgrowth type indeterminate indeterminate form compact normal 3. Stemanthocyanin coloration absent or very absent or very weak weak length ofinternode (Only medium medium indeterminate growth type varieties)height (Only indeterminate medium growth type varieties) branchingintermediate intermediate branching at cotyledon or absent present firstleafy node number of nodes between  7 to 10  7 to 10 first inflorescencenumber of nodes between 1 to 4 1 to 4 early (1st to 2nd, 2nd to 3rd)inflorescences number of nodes between 1 to 4 1 to 4 later developinginflorescences pubescence on younger sparsely hairy moderately stems(scattered hairy long hairs) 4. Leaf type tomato tomato type of bladebipinnate bipinnate margin of major leaflets shallowly toothed shallowly(mature leaf beneath the 3rd or scalloped toothed or inflorescence)scalloped marginal rolling or wiltiness absent slight (mature leafbeneath the 3rd inflorescence) onset of leaflet rolling mid season midseason (mature leaf beneath the 4d inflorescence) surface of majorleaflets smooth rugose (bumpy (mature leaf beneath the 3rd or veiny)inflorescence) pubescence (mature leaf normal normal beneath the 3rdinflorescence) attitude (*refer to photos in drooping semi-drooping TGif needed) length medium width medium size of leaflets large intensityof green color medium medium glossiness weak blistering (*refer tophotos weak in TG showing the difference between blistering andcreasing) attitude of petiole of leaflet semi-erect semi-erect inrelation to main axis 5 Inflorescence type mainly mainly uniparousuniparous type (make observations on simple simple the 3rdinflorenscence) average number of flowers 4 5.6 in inflorenscence (fromobservations made on the 3rd inflorescence) leafy or “running” absentabsent inflorescence 6 Flower color yellow yellow calyx normal (lobesnormal (lobes awl shaped) awl shaped) calyx-lobes approx. equalingapprox. corolla equaling corolla corolla color yellow yellow stylepubescence demse sparse anthers all fused into all fused into tube tubefasciation (1^(st) flower of 2^(nd) absent absent or 3^(rd)inflorescence) abscission layer present present (pedicellate)(pedicellate Pedicel: length (only long varieties with peduncleabscission layer present) 7. Fruit surface slightly rough slightly roughbase color (mature-green apple or medium apple or stage) green mediumgreen pattern (mature-green stage) uniform green uniform green greenshoulder (before absent absent maturity) intensity of green color verylight excluding shoulder (before maturity) green stripes (beforeabsent/present absent maturity) size medium small ratio length/diametermoderately moderately compressed compressed shape in longitudinalsection oblate oblate shape of transverse/cross irregular angularsection (3^(rd) fruit of 2^(nd) or 3^(rd) cluster) shape of stem end(3rd fruit indented indented of 2nd or 3rd cluster) shape of blossom endindented to flat indented to flat shape of pistil scar (3^(rd) fruitstellate stellate of 2^(nd) or 3^(rd) cluster) ribbing at peduncle endstrong medium depression at peduncle end strong medium size ofstem/peduncle scar large medium size of blossom scar large medium pointof detachment of fruit at pedicel joint at pedicel joint at harvest(3^(rd) fruit of 2^(nd) or 3^(rd) cluster) length of dedicel (from joint16.3 8.9 to calyx attachment) length of mature fruit (stem 71.8 mm 57.1mm axis) diameter of fruit at widest 108.4 mm 78.8 mm point weight ofmature fruit 473.7 gm 198.9 gm core coreless (absent present or smallerthan 6 × 6 mm) diameter of core in cross large medium section inrelation to total diameter number of locules (*refer to more than sixfour, five or six TG for pictures of locules) color, full ripe red redcolor (at maturity) red pink flesh color, full-ripe red/crimsonred/crimson color of flesh (at maturity) red red glossiness of skinmedium medium flesh color with lighter and with lighter and darker areasin darker areas in walls wall locular gel color of table- red red ripefruit firmness soft soft shelf life medium medium time of floweringmedium time of maturity late ripening (blossom-to-stem blossom-to-stemblossom-to- axis) end stem end ripening (peripheral to outside inoutside in central radial axis) epidermis color yellow yellow epidermisnormal normal epidermis texture average tender thickness of pericarp (in0.0 mm 0.0 mm millimeters) sensitivity to slivering insensitiveinsensitive 8. Phenology seeding to 50% flow (1 open 54 68.5 on 50% ofplants) (days) Fruiting Season long long 9. Adaptation culturegreenhouse greenhouse 10. Chemistry and Composition of Full-Ripe FruitspH 4.7 4.4 titratable acidity, as % citric 4.5 5.9 total solids (drymatter, 5.5 5.0 seeds and skin removed) (percentage total content)soluble Solids as °Brix 4.7 4.0 *These are typical values. Values mayvary due to environment. Other values that are substantially equivalentare also within the scope of the invention.

C. Breeding Tomato Plants

One aspect of the current invention concerns methods for producing seedof tomato hybrid DR5014TH involving crossing tomato lines FIRXM12-4126and FIRXM12-4131. Alternatively, in other embodiments of the invention,hybrid DR5014TH, line FIRXM12-4126, or line FIRXM12-4131 may be crossedwith itself or with any second plant. Such methods can be used forpropagation of hybrid DR5014TH and/or the tomato lines FIRXM12-4126 andFIRXM12-4131, or can be used to produce plants that are derived fromhybrid DR5014TH and/or the tomato lines FIRXM12-4126 and FIRXM12-4131.Plants derived from hybrid DR5014TH and/or the tomato lines FIRXM12-4126and FIRXM12-4131 may be used, in certain embodiments, for thedevelopment of new tomato varieties.

The development of new varieties using one or more starting varieties iswell known in the art. In accordance with the invention, novel varietiesmay be created by crossing hybrid DR5014TH followed by multiplegenerations of breeding according to such well known methods. Newvarieties may be created by crossing with any second plant. In selectingsuch a second plant to cross for the purpose of developing novel lines,it may be desired to choose those plants which either themselves exhibitone or more selected desirable characteristics or which exhibit thedesired characteristic(s) when in hybrid combination. Once initialcrosses have been made, inbreeding and selection take place to producenew varieties. For development of a uniform line, often five or moregenerations of selfing and selection are involved.

Uniform lines of new varieties may also be developed by way ofdouble-haploids. This technique allows the creation of true breedinglines without the need for multiple generations of selfing andselection. In this manner true breeding lines can be produced in aslittle as one generation. Haploid embryos may be produced frommicrospores, pollen, anther cultures, or ovary cultures. The haploidembryos may then be doubled autonomously, or by chemical treatments(e.g. colchicine treatment). Alternatively, haploid embryos may be growninto haploid plants and treated to induce chromosome doubling. In eithercase, fertile homozygous plants are obtained. In accordance with theinvention, any of such techniques may be used in connection with a plantof the invention and progeny thereof to achieve a homozygous line.

Backcrossing can also be used to improve an inbred plant. Backcrossingtransfers a specific desirable trait from one inbred or non-inbredsource to an inbred that lacks that trait. This can be accomplished, forexample, by first crossing a superior inbred (A) (recurrent parent) to adonor inbred (non-recurrent parent), which carries the appropriate locusor loci for the trait in question. The progeny of this cross are thenmated back to the superior recurrent parent (A) followed by selection inthe resultant progeny for the desired trait to be transferred from thenon-recurrent parent. After five or more backcross generations withselection for the desired trait, the progeny have the characteristicbeing transferred, but are like the superior parent for most or almostall other loci. The last backcross generation would be selfed to givepure breeding progeny for the trait being transferred.

The plants of the present invention are particularly well suited for thedevelopment of new lines based on the elite nature of the geneticbackground of the plants. In selecting a second plant to cross withDR5014TH and/or tomato lines FIRXM12-4126 and FIRXM12-4131 for thepurpose of developing novel tomato lines, it will typically be preferredto choose those plants which either themselves exhibit one or moreselected desirable characteristics or which exhibit the desiredcharacteristic(s) when in hybrid combination. Examples of desirabletraits may include, in specific embodiments, high seed yield, high seedgermination, seedling vigor, high fruit yield, disease tolerance orresistance, and adaptability for soil and climate conditions.Consumer-driven traits, such as a fruit shape, color, texture, and tasteare other examples of traits that may be incorporated into new lines oftomato plants developed by this invention.

D. Further Embodiments of the Invention

In certain aspects of the invention, plants described herein areprovided modified to include at least a first desired heritable trait.Such plants may, in one embodiment, be developed by a plant breedingtechnique called backcrossing, wherein essentially all of themorphological and physiological characteristics of a variety arerecovered in addition to a genetic locus transferred into the plant viathe backcrossing technique. The term single locus converted plant asused herein refers to those tomato plants which are developed by a plantbreeding technique called backcrossing, wherein essentially all of themorphological and physiological characteristics of a variety arerecovered in addition to the single locus transferred into the varietyvia the backcrossing technique. By essentially all of the morphologicaland physiological characteristics, it is meant that the characteristicsof a plant are recovered that are otherwise present when compared in thesame environment, other than an occasional variant trait that mightarise during backcrossing or direct introduction of a transgene.

Backcrossing methods can be used with the present invention to improveor introduce a characteristic into the present variety. The parentaltomato plant which contributes the locus for the desired characteristicis termed the nonrecurrent or donor parent. This terminology refers tothe fact that the nonrecurrent parent is used one time in the backcrossprotocol and therefore does not recur. The parental tomato plant towhich the locus or loci from the nonrecurrent parent are transferred isknown as the recurrent parent as it is used for several rounds in thebackcrossing protocol.

In a typical backcross protocol, the original variety of interest(recurrent parent) is crossed to a second variety (nonrecurrent parent)that carries the single locus of interest to be transferred. Theresulting progeny from this cross are then crossed again to therecurrent parent and the process is repeated until a tomato plant isobtained wherein essentially all of the morphological and physiologicalcharacteristics of the recurrent parent are recovered in the convertedplant, in addition to the single transferred locus from the nonrecurrentparent.

The selection of a suitable recurrent parent is an important step for asuccessful backcrossing procedure. The goal of a backcross protocol isto alter or substitute a single trait or characteristic in the originalvariety. To accomplish this, a single locus of the recurrent variety ismodified or substituted with the desired locus from the nonrecurrentparent, while retaining essentially all of the rest of the desiredgenetic, and therefore the desired physiological and morphologicalconstitution of the original variety. The choice of the particularnonrecurrent parent will depend on the purpose of the backcross; one ofthe major purposes is to add some commercially desirable trait to theplant. The exact backcrossing protocol will depend on the characteristicor trait being altered and the genetic distance between the recurrentand nonrecurrent parents. Although backcrossing methods are simplifiedwhen the characteristic being transferred is a dominant allele, arecessive allele, or an additive allele (between recessive anddominant), may also be transferred. In this instance it may be necessaryto introduce a test of the progeny to determine if the desiredcharacteristic has been successfully transferred.

In one embodiment, progeny tomato plants of a backcross in which a plantdescribed herein is the recurrent parent comprise (i) the desired traitfrom the non-recurrent parent and (ii) all of the physiological andmorphological characteristics of tomato the recurrent parent asdetermined at the 5% significance level when grown in the sameenvironmental conditions.

New varieties can also be developed from more than two parents. Thetechnique, known as modified backcrossing, uses different recurrentparents during the backcrossing. Modified backcrossing may be used toreplace the original recurrent parent with a variety having certain moredesirable characteristics or multiple parents may be used to obtaindifferent desirable characteristics from each.

With the development of molecular markers associated with particulartraits, it is possible to add additional traits into an established germline, such as represented here, with the end result being substantiallythe same base germplasm with the addition of a new trait or traits.Molecular breeding, as described in Moose and Mumm, 2008 (PlantPhysiology, 147: 969-977), for example, and elsewhere, provides amechanism for integrating single or multiple traits or QTL into an eliteline. This molecular breeding-facilitated movement of a trait or traitsinto an elite line may encompass incorporation of a particular genomicfragment associated with a particular trait of interest into the eliteline by the mechanism of identification of the integrated genomicfragment with the use of flanking or associated marker assays. In theembodiment represented here, one, two, three or four genomic loci, forexample, may be integrated into an elite line via this methodology. Whenthis elite line containing the additional loci is further crossed withanother parental elite line to produce hybrid offspring, it is possibleto then incorporate at least eight separate additional loci into thehybrid. These additional loci may confer, for example, such traits as adisease resistance or a fruit quality trait. In one embodiment, eachlocus may confer a separate trait. In another embodiment, loci may needto be homozygous and exist in each parent line to confer a trait in thehybrid. In yet another embodiment, multiple loci may be combined toconfer a single robust phenotype of a desired trait.

Many single locus traits have been identified that are not regularlyselected for in the development of a new inbred but that can be improvedby backcrossing techniques. Single locus traits may or may not betransgenic; examples of these traits include, but are not limited to,herbicide resistance, resistance to bacterial, fungal, or viral disease,insect resistance, modified fatty acid or carbohydrate metabolism, andaltered nutritional quality. These comprise genes generally inheritedthrough the nucleus.

Direct selection may be applied where the single locus acts as adominant trait. For this selection process, the progeny of the initialcross are assayed for viral resistance and/or the presence of thecorresponding gene prior to the backcrossing. Selection eliminates anyplants that do not have the desired gene and resistance trait, and onlythose plants that have the trait are used in the subsequent backcross.This process is then repeated for all additional backcross generations.

Selection of tomato plants for breeding is not necessarily dependent onthe phenotype of a plant and instead can be based on geneticinvestigations. For example, one can utilize a suitable genetic markerwhich is closely genetically linked to a trait of interest. One of thesemarkers can be used to identify the presence or absence of a trait inthe offspring of a particular cross, and can be used in selection ofprogeny for continued breeding. This technique is commonly referred toas marker assisted selection. Any other type of genetic marker or otherassay which is able to identify the relative presence or absence of atrait of interest in a plant can also be useful for breeding purposes.Procedures for marker assisted selection are well known in the art. Suchmethods will be of particular utility in the case of recessive traitsand variable phenotypes, or where conventional assays may be moreexpensive, time consuming or otherwise disadvantageous. Types of geneticmarkers which could be used in accordance with the invention include,but are not necessarily limited to, Simple Sequence Length Polymorphisms(SSLPs) (Williams et al., Nucleic Acids Res., 1 8:6531-6535, 1990),Randomly Amplified Polymorphic DNAs (RAPDs), DNA AmplificationFingerprinting (DAF), Sequence Characterized Amplified Regions (SCARs),Arbitrary Primed Polymerase Chain Reaction (AP-PCR), Amplified FragmentLength Polymorphisms (AFLPs) (EP 534 858, specifically incorporatedherein by reference in its entirety), and Single NucleotidePolymorphisms (SNPs) (Wang et al., Science, 280:1077-1082, 1998).

E. Plants Derived by Genetic Engineering

Many useful traits that can be introduced by backcrossing, as well asdirectly into a plant, are those which are introduced by genetictransformation techniques. Genetic transformation may therefore be usedto insert a selected transgene into a plant of the invention or may,alternatively, be used for the preparation of transgenes which can beintroduced by backcrossing. Methods for the transformation of plantsthat are well known to those of skill in the art and applicable to manycrop species include, but are not limited to, electroporation,microprojectile bombardment, Agrobacterium-mediated transformation anddirect DNA uptake by protoplasts.

To effect transformation by electroporation, one may employ eitherfriable tissues, such as a suspension culture of cells or embryogeniccallus or alternatively one may transform immature embryos or otherorganized tissue directly. In this technique, one would partiallydegrade the cell walls of the chosen cells by exposing them topectin-degrading enzymes (pectolyases) or mechanically wound tissues ina controlled manner.

An efficient method for delivering transforming DNA segments to plantcells is microprojectile bombardment. In this method, particles arecoated with nucleic acids and delivered into cells by a propellingforce. Exemplary particles include those comprised of tungsten,platinum, and preferably, gold. For the bombardment, cells in suspensionare concentrated on filters or solid culture medium. Alternatively,immature embryos or other target cells may be arranged on solid culturemedium. The cells to be bombarded are positioned at an appropriatedistance below the macroprojectile stopping plate.

An illustrative embodiment of a method for delivering DNA into plantcells by acceleration is the Biolistics Particle Delivery System, whichcan be used to propel particles coated with DNA or cells through ascreen, such as a stainless steel or Nytex screen, onto a surfacecovered with target cells. The screen disperses the particles so thatthey are not delivered to the recipient cells in large aggregates.Microprojectile bombardment techniques are widely applicable, and may beused to transform virtually any plant species.

Agrobacterium-mediated transfer is another widely applicable system forintroducing gene loci into plant cells. An advantage of the technique isthat DNA can be introduced into whole plant tissues, thereby bypassingthe need for regeneration of an intact plant from a protoplast. ModernAgrobacterium transformation vectors are capable of replication in E.coli as well as Agrobacterium, allowing for convenient manipulations(Klee et al., Bio-Technology, 3(7):637-642, 1985). Moreover, recenttechnological advances in vectors for Agrobacterium-mediated genetransfer have improved the arrangement of genes and restriction sites inthe vectors to facilitate the construction of vectors capable ofexpressing various polypeptide coding genes. The vectors described haveconvenient multi-linker regions flanked by a promoter and apolyadenylation site for direct expression of inserted polypeptidecoding genes. Additionally, Agrobacterium containing both armed anddisarmed Ti genes can be used for transformation.

In those plant strains where Agrobacterium-mediated transformation isefficient, it is the method of choice because of the facile and definednature of the gene locus transfer. The use of Agrobacterium-mediatedplant integrating vectors to introduce DNA into plant cells is wellknown in the art (Fraley et al., Bio/Technology, 3:629-635, 1985; U.S.Pat. No. 5,563,055).

Transformation of plant protoplasts also can be achieved using methodsbased on calcium phosphate precipitation, polyethylene glycol treatment,electroporation, and combinations of these treatments (see, e.g.,Potrykus et al., Mol. Gen. Genet., 199:183-188, 1985; Omirulleh et al.,Plant Mol. Biol., 21(3):415-428, 1993; Fromm et al., Nature,312:791-793, 1986; Uchimiya et al., Mol. Gen. Genet., 204:204, 1986;Marcotte et al., Nature, 335:454, 1988). Transformation of plants andexpression of foreign genetic elements is exemplified in Choi et al.(Plant Cell Rep., 13: 344-348, 1994), and Ellul et al. (Theor. Appl.Genet., 107:462-469, 2003).

A number of promoters have utility for plant gene expression for anygene of interest including but not limited to selectable markers,scoreable markers, genes for pest tolerance, disease resistance,nutritional enhancements and any other gene of agronomic interest.Examples of constitutive promoters useful for plant gene expressioninclude, but are not limited to, the cauliflower mosaic virus (CaMV)P-35S promoter, which confers constitutive, high-level expression inmost plant tissues (see, e.g., Odel et al., Nature, 313:810, 1985),including in monocots (see, e.g., Dekeyser et al., Plant Cell, 2:591,1990; Terada and Shimamoto, Mol. Gen. Genet., 220:389, 1990); a tandemlyduplicated version of the CaMV 35S promoter, the enhanced 35S promoter(P-e35S); 1 the nopaline synthase promoter (An et al., Plant Physiol.,88:547, 1988); the octopine synthase promoter (Fromm et al., Plant Cell,1:977, 1989); and the figwort mosaic virus (P-FMV) promoter as describedin U.S. Pat. No. 5,378,619 and an enhanced version of the FMV promoter(P-eFMV) where the promoter sequence of P-FMV is duplicated in tandem;the cauliflower mosaic virus 19S promoter; a sugarcane bacilliform viruspromoter; a commelina yellow mottle virus promoter; and other plant DNAvirus promoters known to express in plant cells.

A variety of plant gene promoters that are regulated in response toenvironmental, hormonal, chemical, and/or developmental signals can alsobe used for expression of an operably linked gene in plant cells,including promoters regulated by (1) heat (Callis et al., PlantPhysiol., 88:965, 1988), (2) light (e.g., pea rbcS-3A promoter,Kuhlemeier et al., Plant Cell, 1:471, 1989; maize rbcS promoter,Schaffner and Sheen, Plant Cell, 3:997, 1991; or chlorophyll a/b-bindingprotein promoter, Simpson et al., EMBO J., 4:2723, 1985), (3) hormones,such as abscisic acid (Marcotte et al., Plant Cell, 1:969, 1989), (4)wounding (e.g., wunl, Siebertz et al., Plant Cell, 1:961, 1989); or (5)chemicals such as methyl jasmonate, salicylic acid, or Safener. It mayalso be advantageous to employ organ-specific promoters (e.g., Roshal etal., EMBO J., 6:1155, 1987; Schernthaner et al., EMBO J., 7:1249, 1988;Bustos et al., Plant Cell, 1:839, 1989).

Exemplary nucleic acids which may be introduced to plants of thisinvention include, for example, DNA sequences or genes from anotherspecies, or even genes or sequences which originate with or are presentin the same species, but are incorporated into recipient cells bygenetic engineering methods rather than classical reproduction orbreeding techniques. However, the term “exogenous” is also intended torefer to genes that are not normally present in the cell beingtransformed, or perhaps simply not present in the form, structure, etc.,as found in the transforming DNA segment or gene, or genes which arenormally present and that one desires to express in a manner thatdiffers from the natural expression pattern, e.g., to over-express.Thus, the term “exogenous” gene or DNA is intended to refer to any geneor DNA segment that is introduced into a recipient cell, regardless ofwhether a similar gene may already be present in such a cell. The typeof DNA included in the exogenous DNA can include DNA which is alreadypresent in the plant cell, DNA from another plant, DNA from a differentorganism, or a DNA generated externally, such as a DNA sequencecontaining an antisense message of a gene, or a DNA sequence encoding asynthetic or modified version of a gene.

Many hundreds if not thousands of different genes are known and couldpotentially be introduced into a tomato plant according to theinvention. Non-limiting examples of particular genes and correspondingphenotypes one may choose to introduce into a tomato plant include oneor more genes for insect tolerance, such as a Bacillus thuringiensis(B.t.) gene, pest tolerance such as genes for fungal disease control,herbicide tolerance such as genes conferring glyphosate tolerance, andgenes for quality improvements such as yield, nutritional enhancements,environmental or stress tolerances, or any desirable changes in plantphysiology, growth, development, morphology or plant product(s). Forexample, structural genes would include any gene that confers insecttolerance including but not limited to a Bacillus insect control proteingene as described in WO 99/31248, herein incorporated by reference inits entirety, U.S. Pat. No. 5,689,052, herein incorporated by referencein its entirety, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,500,365 and 5,880,275, hereinincorporated by reference in their entirety. In another embodiment, thestructural gene can confer tolerance to the herbicide glyphosate asconferred by genes including, but not limited to Agrobacterium strainCP4 glyphosate resistant EPSPS gene (aroA:CP4) as described in U.S. Pat.No. 5,633,435, herein incorporated by reference in its entirety, orglyphosate oxidoreductase gene (GOX) as described in U.S. Pat. No.5,463,175, herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.

Alternatively, the DNA coding sequences can affect these phenotypes byencoding a non-translatable RNA molecule that causes the targetedinhibition of expression of an endogenous gene, for example viaantisense- or cosuppression-mediated mechanisms (see, for example, Birdet al., Biotech. Gen. Engin. Rev., 9:207, 1991). The RNA could also be acatalytic RNA molecule (i.e., a ribozyme) engineered to cleave a desiredendogenous mRNA product (see for example, Gibson and Shillito, Mol.Biotech., 7:125, 1997). Thus, any gene which produces a protein or mRNAwhich expresses a phenotype or morphology change of interest is usefulfor the practice of the present invention.

F. Definitions

In the description and tables herein, a number of terms are used. Inorder to provide a clear and consistent understanding of thespecification and claims, the following definitions are provided:

Allele: Any of one or more alternative forms of a gene locus, all ofwhich alleles relate to one trait or characteristic. In a diploid cellor organism, the two alleles of a given gene occupy corresponding locion a pair of homologous chromosomes.

Backcrossing: A process in which a breeder repeatedly crosses hybridprogeny, for example a first generation hybrid (F₁), back to one of theparents of the hybrid progeny. Backcrossing can be used to introduce oneor more single locus conversions from one genetic background intoanother.

Crossing: The mating of two parent plants.

Cross-pollination: Fertilization by the union of two gametes fromdifferent plants.

Diploid: A cell or organism having two sets of chromosomes.

Emasculate: The removal of plant male sex organs or the inactivation ofthe organs with a cytoplasmic or nuclear genetic factor or a chemicalagent conferring male sterility.

Enzymes: Molecules which can act as catalysts in biological reactions.

F₁ Hybrid: The first generation progeny of the cross of two nonisogenicplants.

Genotype: The genetic constitution of a cell or organism.

Haploid: A cell or organism having one set of the two sets ofchromosomes in a diploid.

Linkage: A phenomenon wherein alleles on the same chromosome tend tosegregate together more often than expected by chance if theirtransmission was independent.

Marker: A readily detectable phenotype, preferably inherited incodominant fashion (both alleles at a locus in a diploid heterozygoteare readily detectable), with no environmental variance component, i.e.,heritability of 1.

Phenotype: The detectable characteristics of a cell or organism, whichcharacteristics are the manifestation of gene expression.

Quantitative Trait Loci (QTL): Quantitative trait loci (QTL) refer togenetic loci that control to some degree numerically representabletraits that are usually continuously distributed.

Resistance: As used herein, the terms “resistance” and “tolerance” areused interchangeably to describe plants that show no symptoms to aspecified biotic pest, pathogen, abiotic influence or environmentalcondition. These terms are also used to describe plants showing somesymptoms but that are still able to produce marketable product with anacceptable yield. Some plants that are referred to as resistant ortolerant are only so in the sense that they may still produce a crop,even though the plants are stunted and the yield is reduced.

Regeneration: The development of a plant from tissue culture.

Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) color chart value: The RHS color chartis a standardized reference which allows accurate identification of anycolor. A color's designation on the chart describes its hue, brightnessand saturation. A color is precisely named by the RHS color chart byidentifying the group name, sheet number and letter, e.g., Yellow-OrangeGroup 19A or Red Group 41B.

Self-pollination: The transfer of pollen from the anther to the stigmaof the same plant.

Single Locus Converted (Conversion) Plant: Plants which are developed bya plant breeding technique called backcrossing, wherein essentially allof the morphological and physiological characteristics of a tomatovariety are recovered in addition to the characteristics of the singlelocus transferred into the variety via the backcrossing technique and/orby genetic transformation.

Substantially Equivalent: A characteristic that, when compared, does notshow a statistically significant difference (e.g., p=0.05) from themean.

Tissue Culture: A composition comprising isolated cells of the same or adifferent type or a collection of such cells organized into parts of aplant.

Transgene: A genetic locus comprising a sequence which has beenintroduced into the genome of a tomato plant by transformation.

G. Deposit Information

A deposit of tomato hybrid DR5014TH and inbred parent lines FIRXM12-4126and FIRXM12-4131, disclosed above and recited in the claims, has beenmade with the American Type Culture Collection (ATCC), 10801 UniversityBlvd., Manassas, Va. 20110-2209. The date of deposit was May 4, 2015.The accession numbers for those deposited seeds of tomato hybridDR5014TH and inbred parent lines FIRXM12-4126 and FIRXM12-4131, are ATCCAccession No. PTA-122140, PTA-122137, and PTA-122138, respectively. Uponissuance of a patent, all restrictions upon the deposits will beremoved, and the deposits are intended to meet all of the requirementsof 37 C.F.R. § 1.801-1.809. The deposits will be maintained in thedepository for a period of 30 years, or 5 years after the last request,or for the effective life of the patent, whichever is longer, and willbe replaced if necessary during that period.

Although the foregoing invention has been described in some detail byway of illustration and example for purposes of clarity andunderstanding, it will be obvious that certain changes and modificationsmay be practiced within the scope of the invention, as limited only bythe scope of the appended claims.

All references cited herein are hereby expressly incorporated herein byreference.

What is claimed is:
 1. A tomato seed comprising at least a first set ofthe chromosomes of tomato line FIRXM12-4131, a sample of seed of saidline having been deposited under ATCC Accession Number PTA-122138.
 2. Atomato plant grown from the seed of claim
 1. 3. The plant of claim 2,which is an inbred.
 4. The plant of claim 2, which is a hybrid.
 5. Theseed of claim 1, which is an inbred.
 6. The seed of claim 1, which is ahybrid.
 7. A plant part of the plant of claim
 2. 8. The plant part ofclaim 7, further defined as a leaf, an ovule, pollen, a fruit, or acell.
 9. A tissue culture of regenerable cells of the plant of claim 2,said cells comprising at least a first set of the chromosomes of tomatoline FIRXM12-4131, a sample of seed of said line having been depositedunder ATCC Accession Number PTA-122138.
 10. The tissue culture accordingto claim 9, comprising cells or protoplasts from a plant part selectedfrom the group consisting of embryos, meristems, cotyledons, pollen,leaves, anthers, roots, root tips, pistil, flower, seed and stalks. 11.A tomato plant regenerated from the tissue culture of claim 9, whereinsaid plant has all of the morphological and physiologicalcharacteristics of tomato line FIRXM12-4131, a sample of seed of saidline having been deposited under ATCC Accession Number PTA-122138.
 12. Amethod of vegetatively propagating the tomato plant of claim 2comprising the steps of: (a) collecting tissue capable of beingpropagated from the plant according to claim 2; (b) cultivating saidtissue to obtain proliferated shoots; and (c) rooting said proliferatedshoots to obtain rooted plantlets.
 13. The method of claim 12, furthercomprising growing at least a first tomato plant from said rootedplantlets.
 14. A method of introducing a desired trait into a tomatoline comprising: (a) utilizing as a recurrent parent a plant of tomatoline FIRXM12-4131, by crossing a plant of tomato line FIRXM12-4131 witha donor tomato plant that comprises a desired trait to produce F1progeny, a sample of seed of said line having been deposited under ATCCAccession Number PTA-122138; (b) selecting an F1 progeny that comprisesthe desired trait; (c) backcrossing the selected F1 progeny with a plantof tomato line FIRXM12-4131 to produce backcross progeny; (d) selectingbackcross progeny comprising the desired trait; and (e) repeating steps(c) and (d) three or more times to produce selected fourth or higherbackcross progeny that comprises the desired trait, and otherwisecomprises essentially all of the morphological and physiologicalcharacteristics of tomato line FIRXM12-4131.
 15. A tomato plant producedby the method of claim
 14. 16. A method of producing a tomato plantcomprising an added trait, the method comprising introducing bytransformation a transgene conferring the trait into a plant of tomatoline FIRXM12-4131, a sample of seed of said line having been depositedunder ATCC Accession Number PTA-122138.
 17. A tomato plant produced bythe method of claim
 16. 18. A plant of tomato line FIRXM12-4131, furthercomprising a transgene, a sample of seed of said line having beendeposited under ATCC Accession Number PTA-122138, wherein said plantotherwise comprises essentially all of the morphological andphysiological characteristics of tomato line FIRXM12-4131.
 19. The plantof claim 18, wherein the transgene confers a trait selected from thegroup consisting of male sterility, herbicide tolerance, insectresistance, pest resistance, disease resistance, modified fatty acidmetabolism, environmental stress tolerance, modified carbohydratemetabolism and modified protein metabolism.
 20. A plant of tomato lineFIRXM12-4131, further comprising a single locus conversion, a sample ofseed of said line having been deposited under ATCC Accession NumberPTA-122138, wherein said plant otherwise comprises essentially all ofthe morphological and physiological characteristics of tomato lineFIRXM12-4131.
 21. The plant of claim 20, wherein the single locusconversion confers a trait selected from the group consisting of malesterility, herbicide tolerance, insect resistance, pest resistance,disease resistance, modified fatty acid metabolism, environmental stresstolerance, modified carbohydrate metabolism and modified proteinmetabolism.
 22. A method for producing a seed of a tomato plant derivedfrom tomato line FIRXM12-4131 comprising the steps of: (a) crossing atomato plant of line FIRXM12-4131 with itself or a second tomato plant,a sample of seed of said line having been deposited under ATCC AccessionNumber PTA-122138; and (b) allowing seed of a line FIRXM12-4131-derivedtomato plant to form.
 23. A method of producing a seed of a lineFIRXM12-4131-derived tomato plant comprising the steps of: (a) producinga line FIRXM12-4131-derived tomato plant from a seed produced bycrossing a tomato plant of line FIRXM12-4131 with itself or a secondtomato plant, a sample of seed of said line having been deposited underATCC Accession Number PTA-122138; and (b) crossing the lineFIRXM12-4131-derived tomato plant with itself or a different tomatoplant to obtain a seed of a further line FIRXM12-4131-derived tomatoplant.
 24. The method of claim 23, further comprising repeating saidproducing and crossing steps of (a) and (b) using a seed from said step(b) for at least one generation to produce a seed of an additional lineFIRXM12-4131-derived tomato plant.
 25. A method of producing a tomatoseed comprising crossing the plant of claim 2 with itself or a secondtomato plant and allowing seed to form.
 26. A method of producing atomato fruit comprising: (a) obtaining the plant according to claim 2,wherein the plant has been cultivated to maturity; and (b) collecting atomato fruit from the plant.